One guy I work with used to teach in Saudi.
He is a lazy guy. I wonder if he was spoiled in some ways by his previous job.
You may know the situation. Not so many hours a week, a free computer to use, and great pay.
In Japan, he does the minimal, and sometimes not even that much.

Is life in Saudi something like war, in that it makes a good man (or woman) better and a bad person worse?

I would say that one must be careful about making generalizations. However, having spent several years in the ME and the past five months in Saudi, I am inclined to say that I find some veterans to characteristically bend the rules at every opportunity while others simply have a great disregard for professionalism.

U'ooooh the hornets will be swarming in a matter of no time. This just might get kind'a nasty so let me go get my face-net-hat, gloves and the Raid.

Stay in Saudi long enough and you will eventually be unemployable anywhere else.
On a postive note i was regarded as lazy or a person who did the bare minimum at home but in Saudi i am seen as a hard worker!

Forgive me for sounding ignorant, but why would long-term employment in a challenging social and pedagogical environment like Saudi Arabia be considered a liability for future employment anywhere else? Wouldn't 10 years spent at a university in Riyadh look better on a CV than a few months here and a few months there, hopping around the globe and leaving no viable references for a new employer to contact?

But isn't it the case that you do what you can get away with doing - or not doing?

Given that the educational environment is not always that professional in KSA, it is certainly true that one can 'doss' to an extent you probably coudln't elsewhere. But that does not in itself make one lazy or unprofessional, particularly as I know of teachers who have gone out of their way to do extra courses with Saudi students etc., but have found no real interest among management for such iniatiatives.

And does what applies to KSA also apply to working elsewhere in the Gulf? Educational establsihements there might talk the talk a bit better, but do they walk the walk?

Good thing John isn't around to participate in this discussion - he'd be hopping mad!

Forgive me for sounding ignorant, but why would long-term employment in a challenging social and pedagogical environment like Saudi Arabia be considered a liability for future employment anywhere else?

Perhaps for the same reason that people back home shudder when they hear that you're thinking of working in the ME -- they just don't have a clue about real life down on the ground. Sad but true. Unfortunately, cluelessness does not bar one from acquiring the power to hire and fire.